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Posted 05 September 2012 - 07:18 AM

FORMER:
Dropped James Jones - (who went on to have an .875 OPS at HD)
Swapped out Steven Proscia - (who hit .935 at HD and filled in for an injury at Jackson for 21 games - .654 OPS) - (request of a UVA fan)
Previous adaoptee - Ezequiel Carerra - (traded to Cleveland in 2010) - managed a .748 OPS in a 29 game stint in the Show this year.

Brian Moran - reached Tacoma this year after dominating in Jackson
Brandon Maurer - led Jackson in IPs, wins, missed leading in Ks by ONE strikeout, and showed steady improvement all season after a slow start
Stephen Romero - became *THE* new hot prospect bat after posting a 1.012 OPS in Jackson
Dario Pizzano - late season replacement for Proscia - great season in rookie ball earned him a promo to Everett at year end.

You know you had a good year picking prospects when the guys you gave up on went on to bat .875 and .935!

On the pitching side, my pair of B.M. (short for "Bat Missers") both had outstanding seasons. Maurer was the easily the most underrated pitcher in the Mariner organization this year. After all, he started the year in Jackson, where Hultzen, Walker and Paxton were getting all the buzz. (Yet, it was Carraway who would be the first to get promoted to Tacoma).

Maurer - a 23rd round draft pick out of HS in 2008 has spent most of his pro career battling injuries. He managed 67 innings in 2009 ... only 15 innings in 2010 and notched 79 innings in 2011. Yet, despite the health issues, he was promoted out of rookie ball to Clinton in 2010 ... then moved from Clinton to High Desert in 2011 ... and began 2012 in Jackson, (which felt more like filling a hole than promoting a prospect at the time).

With the lack of work to sample, Maurer was hard to get a read on. But, though it was only 37 innings, Maurer managed 44 Ks in Clinton. That's at age 20. The 10.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 from a 20-year-old is at least worth turning an eye toward. Of course, High Desert is a nightmare for pitchers, and if you look at his 6.38 ERA from his 42 innings at altitude, it's easy to write off the kid. But, he fanned 7.9 per game in the small sample. The kid has "something" that gets hitters out. So, the question in 2012 was whether the HD gopher issues were about talent (or lack of it), or just typical High Desert noise.

Well ... 2012 started out slowly. At the end of May, his ERA was 4.27 and his pitcher TTO line was: 0.4/3.3/5.8
So, over the rest of the season, he knocked more than a run off his ERA and added almost 2 Ks per game.
The kid should begin 2013 in Tacoma. He won't be first in line to get called up ... but do NOT think this kid doesn't have the stuff to steal a job from somebody like Beavan.

======================

Brian Moran - one of Ackley and Seager's teammates from UNC doesn't have overpowering heat. But he misses bats. He has amassed 225 minor league relief innings and has an aggregate 10.1 K/9 rate. The Ms have incredible bullpen depth at this point, so jobs are hard to come by. But, one way or another, Moran is almost certainly going to be pitching in the majors some time in 2013. Lefties with double-digit K rates and walk rates near 2 don't languish in the minors for long.

======================

Stefen Romero began the season as a "meh" utility prospect. His .803 OPS in Clinton was okay, (that 16 HRs and 22 doubles in 116 games calling the most attention). But, he made too many errors at third, was only slightly better at second, and was ho-hum in 16 games in Left). Basically, the 12th round 2010 draft pick didn't seem anything special when the year began.

Of course, when he started pounding the ball at High Desert, (.973 OPS there was 11 HRs and 19 doubles in 60 games), he got a glance or two ... but, of course, High Desert makes lots of kids look like stars ... right up until they get out of the thin air and unceremoniously crash and burn in Jackson. Well, when Gabriel Noriega perfected his Chone Figgins impersonation, (.208/.266/.233 -- .489 OPS in 84 games in Jackson), Romero got a shot (and a spot - second base), to show whether High Desert was just a mirage. He ADDED 40 points to his OPS after moving to Jackson!!!

One of my quick checks when looking at minor leaguers is to sort by the Total Base (TB) column. This typically gets anyone with low appearance totals out of the way who might be running high rate scores that cannot be trusted. I think it also applies more directly for minor leaguers, who sometimes run non-standard walk rates, since the competition can be much more erratic than what you'll see in the majors. Total bases doesn't tell the whole story, of course, but it is a quick way to group the 5-10 hitters at any level together, so you can start analyzing them in more detail.

Romero ended 2012 with 56 games played in Jackson. He amassed 134 total bases in that time. That was 3rd on the team for the year. Nick Franklin happened to play 57 games in Jackson this year. And, in fact, Romero ended with 240 PAs and Franklin with 239. Romero had 134 total bases. Franklin had 103.

As an aside, the team leader in TBs was Joseph Dunigan, (age 26), who hit 25 HRs and 25 doubles ... and had a nice enough .822 OPS. But Dunigan fanned 175 times in 115 games. He makes Peguero look patient. Romero managed his 134 total bases and 1.012 OPS while fanning only 37 times in his 56 games. Oh, just btw, Franklin fanned 38 times in his 57 games.

The problem for 2013 is position. If Franklin and Triunfel begin 2013 in Tacoma, where could Romero play? (That doesn't even get into what happens to LROD or Liddi or Vinnie).

With Franklin's bat slowing down in AAA, the club has a sticky choice to make regarding SS for 2013. Ideally, you let Ryan walk and let Franklin step in ... but if he's not ready, who is your stop-gap? And if Nick stays in AAA for an extra couple of months, what about Romero?

My guess is that while moving Romero to Jackson to plug the 2B hole this year was easy ... once Romero showed his bat was for real ... that changed the picture. It's way too early to give up on Ackley, (though Romero could be a fall-back there). But, the problem positions for Seattle are 1B and OF, (and the choice of what to do about SS). I suspect the club gives serious consideration to moving Romero to a bat-first position, (1B/OF). If so, they could start the learning process in Jackson for a month or two before promoting to AAA. Of ... they could promote him to AAA and let him hone his OF skills there.

In the end, I don't see Romero reaching the majors in 2013, (except as a September call-up) ... barring injury. But I think the club will give a lot of thought to where to play him defensively and that more than anything else will determine his 2013 fate. I do, however, believe that given the MAJOR skew toward pitching in the Southern League this season, that Romero's bat is already superior to Nick Franklin's, (though not by much). While I don't expect he'll run a thousand OPS in Tacoma, I do think once he acclimates, he could post the best AAA numbers for a Seattle prospect since Adam Jones.

================

Dario Pizzano - a 15th round pick out of Columbia University this year, this LH outfielder was unimpressed with the Appalachian League competition, posting a .953 OPS in his 53 rookie league games, ranking 3rd in the league in BA (.353) and 4th in OPS. You can't tell much from the 6 games he played after his promotion to Everett, but his .916 OPS and 4 walks and only 2 Ks in his 25 Everett PAs suggests he was not suffering any after the move.

What caught my eye is the 30/37 BB/K split (59 games). He's a kid who attended Columbia, (so he's smart), and he's got a naturally good eye from day one. Of course, anyone this many levels from the majors is a long, long, long shot ... but he's got a number of nice underlying skills that might improve with professional coaching ... and little in the way of problems to overcome.

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.

Sandy - Raleigh

Posted 14 March 2013 - 09:13 AM

Romero, Maurer and Moran all were ST invitees. While none is "likely" to make the opening day roster, it won't be due to poor Spring results.

Romero in 7 games has only 14 ABs. But, he's managed 7 hits, (2-HR, 1-2B), giving him a .500 average and 1500 OPS.
This was a courtesy invite to a kid who generated a lot of guzz last year. I expect he'll start the year in Tacoma.

Moran - 1-0; 0.00-ERA; 4-IP; 3-H; 1-BB; 6-K. As a non-roster invitee, Moran, like Romero, is likely to begin the year in Tacoma. Where he ends the year ...

Maurer - 1-1; 1.50-ERA; 6-IP; 7-H; 3-BB; 7-K. He's not going to jump past anyone ... yet. But his first taste of MLB hitters was solid. Tacoma is looking better all the time.

I suspect I'll be needing to hunt for new adoptees within a year, since these three may have moved past simple "prospect" status to "contender".

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.

Romero ended with 7 games and had only 14 ABs. But, he managed 7 hits, (2-HR, 1-2B), giving him a .500 average and 1500 OPS. This was a courtesy invite to a kid who generated a lot of buzz last year. I expect he'll start the year in Tacoma.

Moran - 1-0; 0.00-ERA; 4-IP; 3-H; 1-BB; 6-K. As a non-roster invitee, Moran, like Romero, is likely to begin the year in Tacoma. Where he ends the year ...

Maurer - 3-1; 0.90-ERA; 20-IP; 19-H; 6-BB; 22-K. In a MAJOR shock, Maurer leaps past not only Garland, but also past Erasmo!

How do you make the rotation in ST?

Try leading the club in innings, ERA (minimum 5 innings), and Ks.

==========

Nice to get a little vindication with Maurer, since I snagged him while everyone else was drooling over the "Big Three".

Probably helps his development to have worse pitchers (Saunders and Beavan) making his stats look better as he takes his share of rookie lumps.

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.

Sandy - Raleigh

Posted 06 May 2013 - 06:32 AM

Maurer - made the majors this year ... with major early struggles. But, he's still the 3rd best SP the team has at the moment. 2-4; 6.07 in 29.2 innings (6 starts). Slashline of: 1.5/2.4/5.5

Brian Moran - 1-1; 3.45 in 15.2-IP for 2013 -- slashline of 0.0/1.1/12.6 --- really only had one bad outing all season for Tacoma.

==========

Stefen Romero: Started year on DL ... so only 18 total games played - (5 in HD and 13 in Tacoma)

.290/.351/.478 (.829) line in 77 PAs so far with 5-2B; 1-3B; 2-HR

Of note ... has not played a game at 2B ALL SEASON. (He played 4 games at 3rd in HD). But, since moving to Tacoma it is 8 games in LF and 5 times DHing.

My one prospect not already in the majors or knocking on the door is Dario Pizzano.

.294/.362/.424 (.785) line at Clinton. 3 HRs in his 24 games, (which is interesting since he only had 4 HRs in 59 games between Pulaski and Everett in 2012).

I tagged Pizzano last season because he had a Seager-like doubles profile, (18 doubles and 4 HRs in 59 games). Even in rookie ball, when you hit at a 45-double pace, it's worth taking a second look. Pizzano, like Romero is splitting time betwen LF and DH this season. Anyone coming out of Rookie Ball is going to be a long shot. But I think Pizzano has a decent chance of at least climbing as high as Jackson.

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.

Sandy - Raleigh

Posted 10 May 2013 - 04:39 AM

Just picked up a new adoptee to replace Brandon Maurer, (since he's already made the Show).

I went with a bat this time - (all the arms that looked interesting already had foster parents).

So, my new pickup is: Jabari Henry

Henry was one of several guys I pondered over last season before finally going with Dario Pizzano.

Jabari Henry is currently a 22-year old CF at Clinton (A ball). Like Pizzano, this is a "little" on the late side to be in A ball. He was taken by the Ms in the 18th round of the 2012 draft out of Florida International.

His rookie line in the rookie league at Pulaski was nice: .271/.357/.488 (.845)

That rookie line included 8 HRs and 15 doubles in 61 games (250 PAs).

THIS year through 25 games, the kid is SMOKIN'!

.366/.476/.598 (1.073)

It's easy to get excited about anybody running an OPS above a thousand. No nuance there. But what caught MY eye is what Henry has done with HIS eye.

2012: 29-BB; 47-K in 250 PAs
2013: 18-BB; 10-K in 103 PAs

You multiply his 2013 numbers by 2.5 (to more or less equate the PT), and that looks like:

2013: 45-BB; 25-K in 257 PAs (adjusted)

That is a MASSIVE change on BOTH sides of the equation. *Some* of this change is probably just because the kid is on fire. But, one of the things I look for in regards to players "learning" and adapting is cases where a player gets better after moving UP a level.

Over a full 150 games, Jabari Henry is looking at 108 walks and only 60 Ks. It is HARD to run positive eye ratios in this day and age. He's on a pace for 42 doubles and 24 HRs (extrapolating to 150 games). So, his power numbers have not changed significantly. His BA just jumped 100 points. So, this is NOT about cutting down his swings where he's swapping power for contact. This is simply a LOT more contact.

At the moment, Henry is posting the #2 OPS in the Midwest League, (just behind Bryan Buxton - the #10 BBA prospect and #19 MLB.com prospect). Of course, Buxton is only 19, so it's not a completely fair comparison. But, still ...

No real idea of how good he is defensively ... though the fact he's playing CF suggests he's a plus glove. So far, he hasn't been a big base stealer, (9 of 13 after 353 pro PAs). (Then again, Gutzi was never a big base stealer)

If he keeps hitting like this, he's likely to move to HD and maybe even to Jackson by year end.

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.

Lonnie

Posted 10 May 2013 - 05:30 AM

Lonnie

Demi-God... In Training.

Dionysus

12,171 posts

Gender:Male

Location:Colorado Springs, Colorado

Interests:Guns and Alcohol... Just not at the same time!

I want to mention that in the Midwest League the pitchers have a distinct advantage over the batters for the first two months of the season (cold weather inhibits offense). When a player starts off hot in the MWL at the beginning of the season, folks ought to sit up and pay attention.

Hey, did you see that Henry was voted the MWL Player of the Week for last week?

I actually considered picking Blash up last year (but opted for Pizzano instead). Though his numbers aren't very impressive, the walk rate was in the 100 a year vicinity. So, he's got natural patience. He also has some speed, (stealing 15 of 20 bases in 2011 plus 4 triples).

The thing that first caught my eye was the Everett to Clinton change. His BA plunged ... (.292 to .218), but his eye ratio made a significant change in a positive direction: 28:65 in Everett and 38:43 in Clinton. That Clinton walk rate is like a 150 a year walk rate! It's off-the-charts territory ... but the negative change in BA suggests a change in approach. That's a tell (to me), that this is a "coachable" player.

What I'm reading here is the "mental capacity" to become a TTO (Adam Dunn-esque) hitter. That doesn't mean he has the physical tools to get there, of course. But, the club managed to turn Carp into a AAA behemoth, so I figured taking a flier on Blash might not be as big a reach as one might first assume.

Of course, to get there, the power has to improve drastically from the 20-HR rate he has shown to thus far. But, some guys get their power later.

The 2012 Clinton numbers were largely a reversion to his previous norms, suggesting the 2011 Clinton sample is just an outlier.

But, this year he is at High Desert. Obviously, HD inflates production, so any HD numbers must be taken with a grain of salt.

To date: .309/.374/.716 -- 1.090 --- 8 HR in 21 games

The walk rate is way down ... but the power is in the stratosphere. Honestly, if you're leading your entire farm system in HRs (which Blash is doing at the moment), you deserve some kind of notice.

The thing about TTO hitters is they have to find that "happy center" where the balance between taking pitches versus the aggression that leads to the strikeouts is optimized for the particular eye and hand-eye combination. I love TTO hitters. BUT ... if the aggression/patience ratio gets out of whack productivity can plunge drastically. Dunn, after a decade of .900 OPS seasons goes to Chicago and posts a .569 OPS for the season in 2011. But, he bounced back to at least hit .800 last year (including 41 HRs, his most since 2004). But, this year, he's back down at .558.

I don't know if Blash will figure it out. But he seems to have the mental "willingness" to accept walks when offers. He appears to have the body type that would be conducie to hitting HRs. He has excellent speed scores, (and speed in a slugging body "often" is indicative of bat speed. People forget (or are not aware that Dunn had some speed coming up, stealing 60 bases in his 343 minor league games and swiping 19 in his first full season in the Majors).

Mind you, Blash is never going to be Dunn. A closer upside comp would probably be Cameron without the glove ... or maybe Saunders with some extra walks. But, he's a work in progress and won't likely reach the majors before age 25/26 - (if at all). But, I think he's worth a roll of the dice as a long shot prospect who could take a leap forward at some point in the next year or two.

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.

Moran had a great season. He tailed off at the end, and instead of a September call-up, he got a September trip to the DL. So, his final ERA is actually a tad higher than the truth. Given how awful the Seattle bullpen was this year, it's a dreadful shame Moran wasn't given a chance at some point. Unfortunately, he throws slop, and most GMs don't want to gamble on relief slop-throwers. Maybe he'll get traded to Oakland, where he'll become the best setup guy in the league.

After becoming a prospect darling in 2012 when he blew up (.973) at High Desert and then continued in Jackson (1.012), Romero's tepid 2013 season in Tacoma FEELS a lot worse than it really was.

With 2B blocked, Romero spent most of 2013 learning to play LF. He made NO errors and had two OF assists. No idea about range. But, the surface stats are encouraging. At the plate, he flirted with an .800 OPS, but his average didn't make it all the way back to .300, so he fell just a little short. The 280 point ISO from 2012 vanished and dropped to a more pedestrian, (but serviceable) 170. He's striking out a bit too often (for my tastes) for someone with an ISO below 200. The real question is has he hit a ceiling or did the level (and perhaps his injuries this year), just delay his breakthrough season. I never fully trust HD numbers, but his 56 games at Jackson suggest he has the potential to produce Seager level power. Next year is do or die.

Nobody pays much attention to 15th round draft picks out of college. But, Pizzano crushed the Appalacian League (.953) last year, and didn't blink while shredding the MW League this year.

His eye is unreal: 61-Walks and only 48-Ks. He's only shown doubles power (so far), but Seager hit the map because he his 40 doubles and 14 HRs at High Desert. Pizzano's stats were not altitude assisted. The truth is, he's a Seager-esque bat who strikes out less often, but plays a corner OF spot. People, (and coaches and scouts are people, too), generally want higher power stats (i.e. - Homers) out of their corner OFs. At 5' 11" 200, Pizzano isn't a real candidate for smacking 40 in the Bigs. But Seager is only 6'0" 215. Personally, I'd like to see Pizzano skip High Desert, since I don't believe the stats are useful, and I think the altitude can actually teach bad habits to some players.

Because there is so much movement in the minors, season stats are often split and are not always a great yeardstick. But this year, in 126 games, Pizzano had 218 total bases for Clinton. That led the team by 50! The sky high doubles and low K-rate scream that this guy has the potential to be a Major Leaguer. He doesn't have to "fix" anything to continue moving up. Though most 15th rounders are long shots, Super Dario may be the next surprise coming out of the Mariner's Miner League Cracker Jack Box.

Henry has a Smoak-like production line. He has superb patience, (92 walks in his 161 total minor league games), decent, but unspectacular power, and a decent, but less than thrilling batting average. His target production line (if he makes it), is probably something like .250/.350/.450 - (.800) ... which is fine production. But, much of his value is tied up in his walk rate and overall plus eye ratio, (the 92/120 BB/K split for his 161 minor league games most readily demonstrates what I'm getting at). He hasn't shown enough power to excite anyone, and doesn't have great speed - but his defense is good enough that he's played most of his games in Center, (though with 8 errors in his 161 games, he's still got some work to do). On the plus side, he also has 12 OF assists in those 161 games. So, he's got an arm.

He's an extreme long shot (aren't all 18th rounders), but is one of the better OFs in the organization at the moment, and there might be untapped power potential. He started the year at Clinton and finished it at HD, and started off VERY slowly at HD. His eye at Clinton 47:49 was fantastic. Unfortunately, I have concerns that Henry may turn out to be a AAAA player. Still early. But, if he starts next year at HD, he'll have to start VERY fast to warrant a trip to Jackson.
==================================================

He spent most of 2013 in High Desert, so one might want to be careful reading too much into the power numbers. Except, just like Romero last year, he hit even better (in 29 games) when he moved to Jackson.

The 25 Dingers Blash Splashed in 2013 led the Mariners minors, (I think). He's not as bad as Peguero with the whiffs, but his 399 Ks in 353 minor league games does not bring ME any warm and fuzzies. Unlike Piggy, he's got patience, hence the .375 career OBP, (the .442 OBP he flashed at Jackson is just gravy). Since he's actually able to draw a walk occasionally, I like his chances better than I ever did Peguero, but this was the first year he flipped his 2B/HR ratios ... so it's a little early to know if it is for real or just a fluke. He's definitely a prospect to watch next year, especially for any Mariner fans wanting some power. Unlike, most of the other OF contenders, Blash is BIG - 6'5", 224 ... so he's got the physical build that suggests there may yet be dormant power reserves yet to be tapped.

===============================

All in all, it was a good year for Hemenway prospects. Maurer actually made the club, (even though he didn't stick). The worst of the bunch offensively was Romero, and it's hard to complain when your WORST AAP had a .776 OPS.

Next year is when most of my prospects will either move to AAA and become genuine threats to become MLBers ... or hit the wall and stall out. Should be interesting.

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.

Posted 15 April 2014 - 10:24 AM

Brian Moran - was a Rule 5 pickup by the Angels. But, he just got pegged for Tommy John Surgery, so he's done for the year. I don't know all the particulars of year-ending injuries and Rule 5-dom, but there's a chance that he could return to Seattle next year.

Stefan Romero - he broke camp with the Big Club and has been ... lacking ... in limited PT.

Jabari Blash - starts the year in Jackson (AA). Interesting first two weeks. In 11 games has 11 walks ... and 11 RBI!?! - but only 10 hits?!?!?! Talk about making the most of your opportunities!!! His .263/.440/.526 (.966) line keeps him in play for advancement to Tacoma should a spot open. RH OF bat with power. There are worse things to be in the Ms org if one aspires to move up these days.

Dario Pizzano - The 23 year old Pizzano is running a .304/.333/.500 (.833) a dozen games in, (he played in 10). It's High Desert, so unless your OPS is over a thousand nobody much cares. But, he's only fanned twice in 48 PAs, (same as his walks). He has a solid eye, (93-BB to 87-K in his 829 pro PAs thus far), but is a doubles machine. He hit 40 in 531 PAs last year, (along with 5 triples and 8 HRs). The lack of HRs makes him a long shot to make the bigs, unless he eventually shifts some of those doubles up a category. Given his underlying bat control skills, I'm looking for good numbers out of him by year end in HD. But, he's running slightly old on the career advancement timeline. I think he'll make it to AAA by 2016, but have doubts as to whether he'll ever get a real shot at the Bigs.

Jabari Henry - Gotta love early season strangeness. He has three hits, a triple and two HRs. So, his Slugging is .524. But, his BA is only .143. I believe he was hurt early in the season, so he's actually only played 6 games and only has 24 PAs, (about half of the other starters). In many ways, he's a Smoak clone. Stellar walk rate that offsets a subpar BA with flashes of power, but not in real quantity. He only managed a .774 OPS in his 123 PAs at HD to end 2013. He needs to pick it up this year or he's done for.

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.

Sandy - Raleigh

Posted 23 May 2014 - 11:11 AM

James Jones is not techically my AAP. He just happened to be one a couple of years ago, and I opted to drop him. Apparently that was very short-sighted on my part, because Jones has become the primary CF for the Ms and has a .321/.40/.472 (.872) slashline in 18 games (61 PAs). He's got a 8:7 K:BB ratio, which is outstanding. I think the club is concerned about his defense, (I think they REALLY want Almonte to succeed because of his defense). But, if Jones bat is not just a hot start - one of the OF slots could be closed for looooong time.

Romero remains on the big club. His OPS is weak (.637), but he's getting more PT now. His K/BB of 23/2 is awful, but he just finally got his second walk. Way too early to tell if that is a fluke or if he's actually starting to adjust to the Majors - but if he makes any progress at all, he's likely to stick, and I'll be needing a new adoptee soon.

Jabari Blash -- He Blash-ted out of the gate in Jackson with a .930 OPS, and moved to Tacoma after only 54 games total in AA. Then again, a AA OPS of .999 won't typically languish in AA very long. He's had some adjustment issues to AAA, (24:6 K:BB), and a .159 BA. But, he's hit 2 dingers in his 18 games. BBREF shows him at being 2.7 years younger than the average AAA player, (he's only 24).

Dario Pizzano -- Still under everyone's radar (except mine), Pizzano got the call to Jackson shortly after Blash got called up to Tacoma. (So, let's see - my former AAP and one current AAP both moved to the majors this year ... my AA guy at the start of year has moved to Tacoma ... and one of my two High Desert bats has moved from HD to Jackson. I've got a conga line of adopt-an-OF chugging on up the line! Dario managed an .862 OPS in HD, (with a just sick 16:23 K:BB ratio). When you walk more than you whiff, you definitely got skills in regards to pitch recognition. Pizzano is under the radar because of lack of HR power. He's only managed 15 HR in his 969 pro PAs. But, he hit 40 doubles in Clinton in 2013. The guys who hit lots and lots of doubles early are often the ones that flip a switch later and transfer some of that power from 2-bases to 4. Pizzano is only 5'11" 200 -- so he's not likely to become a 30-HR guy. But, I don't think 20-HR level is out of the question, (it's just a big question). Too early to tell much with his Jackson numbers, but thanks to the quick promotion, he went from being 0.3 years older than average in his level to 1.6 years younger than his level.

Jabari Henry -- my other Jabari spent some time on the DL early, else I think he might've been the guy to get the ticket to Jackson. Because, since coming off the DL, he is CRUSHING High Desert. Mind you, he got 29 games at HD last season with an unimpressive .238/.336/.438 (.774) start. In his 30 games this season - .269/.423/.595 (1016). His career K:BB is pretty good, (144/118) -- but at the moment, he's 24:26 - fanning at exactly the same rate as last year, but walking about 60% more often. But, it's the 9-HRs in 30 games that has pushed his OPS into 4 digits. They're gonna have to push Henry to Jackson soon to get some read on just how much of a difference the atmosphere is making in his production.

Oh - and Maurer - my one remaining pitching prospect is of course, filling a rotation spot in the Majors. I am obviously not the only one expecting a demotion back to AAA whenever Paxton is ready ...

All in all ... kind of hard to get more positive overall results from a prospect pool than what I am getting this year.

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.

Posted 14 July 2014 - 05:55 AM

Stefen Romero (Tacoma/Seattle): Spent 51 games (159 PAs) in the majors, but largely washed out. .196/.236/.324 (.560).His Tacoma numbers for the year at this point are: 11-G; 49-PA; .283/.286/.522 (.807)

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Jabari Blash, (Tacoma): Already in AAA, is getting close to flirting with September call-up possibilities.

The power jump I said might happen when I grabbed him IS for real. But, his K rate remains too high. His OBP is significantly inflated due to an extreme high HBP tally, (10 times in 170 games this season after 9 plunkings in both 2013 and 2012.) This is genuine RH power with some patience, (though this category has suffered while in Tacoma). Not ready for Prime Time IMO, but next year he may get a real shot.

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Dario Pizzano (HD/Jackson): Barely paused in High Desert before getting the call to Jackson. SERIOUSLY struggled early in AA. His walk rate was about the only item he packed and brought with him on the flight East. But, in the last couple of weeks, the hits have started coming, and his line is looking more reasonable:

Jackson: 43-G; 173-PA; .197/.318/.423 (.740) - 6-HR; 31-RBI

What is most interesting with Pizzano is that he has always been a DOUBLES hitter. In 2013, 40-2B, 5-3B; 8-HR in Clinton. At 5'11" 200 pounds, expectation of power increase was not very high with Dario. And this year in High Desert, no change - (16-2B; 2-3B; 3-HR in 35 games). But, in Jackson, I am at this point suspecting that they were specifically working at getting his power numbers up, and this may have been what was suppressing his production early. Because at this point, he has 6-2B; 4-3B; 6-HR in 43 games. Considering he only managed 8 HR in 126 games in Clinton, and only netted 3-HR in thin air power-utopia known as High Desert, the fact that he appears to have DOUBLED his HR prowess in Jackson, (a place NOT known for power - nor the Southern League at all), is VERY interesting. It is way too early to tell whether this is just a random hot streak or just getting lucky against a couple of struggling pitchers. The sample is tiny. But, *IF* Pizzano actually does what Blash did and transfer a bunch of his doubles over to the HR column, then he could quickly move up to a genuine MLB prospect. But, unlike almost every other power-heavy hitter that has climbed through the Seattle farm, Pizzano does not strike out much. Even while struggling to adjust to AA, Dario's eye ratio at this point is 24-BB and only 23-K in his 43 games.

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Jabari Henry (High Desert) - Henry lost a little time early in the season on the DL. Henry got promoted to HD late in 2013, but was still mostly a doubles hitter. His solid eye and good BA were what interested me in Henry. But, this year, at High Desert, he has become a power hitter. After hitting 11 HR (and 23 doubles) in 100 games last year, (mostly in Clinton), Henry has an XBH line of 18/3/18. Of course, High Desert makes power hitters out of guys without power, so Henry will need to move up to Jackson before one can read "too much" into his 2014 production. But, he's certainly not doing anything to slow down his advance.

72-G; 322-PA; .305/.411/.592 (1.003) -- but it's the 44-BB and 62-K numbers that most interest me. On a club overloaded with lefty hitters, Henry offers a potential RH TTO style hitter. I cannot wait to see him get promoted out of the thin air to start getting a read on how much of his power slosh is for real and how much is HD.

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In the how-to-brag-the-most-about-my-selections category. Because players move around a lot in the minors, "team lead" numbers can be somewhat misleading, since often the best players stats are divided between multiple stops. But, they're still fun to use to brag on your Adaoptees.

Jabari Henry - leads High Desert in HR (18), OPS (1.003), OBP (.411), and walks (44). If he finishes the year with HD, will likely lead in the RBI category too, (since DJ Peterson has been moved up).

Dario Pizzano - apparently in a transition year has one of the higher aggregate walk totals in the org, but it's the recent move from a career 175 ISO up to a 225 ISO that makes him an interesting bat to watch.

Jabari Blash - Despite splitting time between Jackson and Tacoma, Blash has already caught up and is tied for team lead in HRs (12) in Tacoma.

So, two of the three team leads in organization between High A, double A and triple A happen to be my adoptees. And the third (that hasn't already been in the Majors), has just started showing power signs in the last month.

All in all, a pretty darn good year for Sandy's adoptees.

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.

Posted 02 September 2014 - 07:01 AM

Stefen Romero (Tacoma/Seattle): Spent 61 games (181 PAs) in the majors, but largely washed out. .196/.240/.310 (.550). But, still called up for September.

His final Tacoma numbers for the year are: 36-G; 163-PA; .358/.387/.669 (1.055)

He crushed AAA pitching after failing in Seattle. Still doesn't have the patience to succeed in the Majors, IMO. But, the club's need for right-handed power likely means he'll get several opportunities ahead.

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Jabari Blash, (Tacoma): Split season between AA and AAA. Still too many Ks and not enough average, but very legit RH power will keep him in the mix. Started off slowly in Tacoma, but gradually picked things up. While the club isn't as K-concerned as I am, his 491 Ks in 435 minor league games translates to bug on windshield if he were to try and move to the Majors at the moment.

His final Tacoma line was: 45-G; 189-PA; .210/.312/.481 (.794) - 12-HR - 37-RBI; 17-BB; 57-K - (and he spent much of 2014 on the DL).

His final 2014 minors combined slash line was: .221/.347/.467 - .814 with 18-HR in 82 games. Will be on the Spring watch list, but without some improvement in his K-rate, I view him as a long shot, despite his power.

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Dario Pizzano (HD/Jackson): Barely paused in High Desert before getting the call to Jackson. SERIOUSLY struggled early in AA. His walk rate was about the only item he packed and brought with him on the flight East. But, got things going in the second half.

It was the 8 HRs he hit at Jackson, (not the 3 in High Desert) that makes him a legitimate player to keep an eye on for 2015. He sacrificed a lot of batting average in shifting some doubles into the HR column. He's more Mark Grace than Mark McGwire, but the real question is whether he can continue adjusting and reclaim at least some of the average he surrendered in search of HRs. The fact that his eye ratio hasn't suffered at all, (just his average), makes me like the kid even more. If he can get his BA back up into the .280 range, I think he'll be in Tacoma during the 2015 season.

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Jabari Henry (High Desert) - Henry lost a little time early in the season on the DL. Henry got promoted to HD late in 2013, but was still mostly a doubles hitter. His solid eye and good BA were what interested me in Henry. But, this year, at High Desert, he has become a power hitter. After hitting 11 HR (and 23 doubles) in 100 games last year, (mostly in Clinton), Henry finished 2014 with an XBH line of 26/5/30 in 114 games.

Of course, High Desert makes power hitters out of guys without power, so Henry will need to move up to Jackson before one can read "too much" into his 2014 production. But, he's certainly not doing anything to slow down his advance.

114-G; 511-PA; .291/.398/.584 (.982) -- His 30 HRs were second to D.J. Peterson's 31 (split between HD and Jackson).

With Henry flipping his 2B/HR numbers at age 23, coupled with his right-handedness, he's a near lock to move to Jackson for 2015. His K-rate is a little on the high side, but his eye ratio is still excellent. Just need to get him out of the thin air to properly evaluate where his real ability is.

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When he was a 2B, Romero held a lot of promise. But with Cano killing 2B for the next decade, and Seager locked in at third, Romero has been forced to learn the OF. His K-rate has ballooned as he's climbed through the minors. Until his return to AAA this year, he really hadn't shown much in the way of development. But, he's the leading RH power bat on the farm at the moment, (with my other adoptees - the two Jabari's trailing).

Dario Pizzano, my one lefthand bat, has the best eye of anyone in the Ms organization. But, it seems that Seattle is still the place where good eye ratios go to die. I see the club doing to Pizzano the same thing they tried with Carp - take a great natural OBP machine and try to turn him into a slugger. IMO, the organization is still too prone to working AGAINST innate skills instead of with them.

A year ago, I thought Pizzano was the longest shot to stick in the Bigs. Today, if it were any organization but the Mariners, I might rank him highest.

While I have a nice collection of minor league adoptees, if I were point at the bats to watch I'd probably go with:

Club is working hard on developing multi-position talent. I think largely because 2B and SS are locked up (the thinking is that between Miller and Taylor - somebody is going to work out). With 1B/DH and the OF continuing to be problematic, there are a lot of RH bats who can play any of the corners speeding toward the Majors.

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All in all, a good year for my adoptees. Of course, it would have been nice if Romero had worked out like Taylor did, but hard to complain about adoptees failing to impress immediate at the Major League level, when many never even get that far. Some former adoptees also got some MLB PT this year - specifically James Jones and Ezequiel Carerra.

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.

Romero has already gotten an MLB cup of coffee. Nice, boring AAA line. Little evidence he'll be anything special. But, as with all player development, you never can tell. I like his double totals. But, his walk total is too low for my tastes. Not a bad emergency OF to have stashed in AAA, but probably nothing more.

Blash is trickier. He led the minors with 32 HRs split between AA and AAA. The most impressive thing is his HR totals went into the stratosphere AFTER he got to Tacoma, (10-HR at Jackson and 22 in Tacoma, in almost the same time frame (60 games vs. 56). His K-rate suggests he'll be overmatched in the Bigs. He's always fanned more than once a game. Then again, his K rate hasn't gotten worse as he's moved up the ladder. This is a Dave Kingman wannabe. Pure HR power and not much else. The plus is that he walks a decent amount, (about 100 points of patience for his minors career). This is the guy I'd love to see Edgar get a chance to work with. Having RAISED his OPS from .900 to .995 when he went from AA to AAA is definitely reason for hope.

Pizzano only played 58 games, (all at Jackson) this year. He's a Mark Grace/Tony Gwynn wannabe. He hits for average with light power and a solid, but unspectacular eye. His greatest skill is he simply does not strike out. For his minor league career, he's whiffed 178 times in 359 games (1514 PAs). This is another guy I'd love to see Edgar work with. Unfortunately, he doesn't possess any of the "juicy" skills that (power, walk rate), in enough quantity to be likely to get a shot. He's got "middle infield" profile, wearing an OF collar. But, he hit 40 doubles back in A ball, so he's one of those guys that I've always suspected could potentially make a "clean" transition to the Bigs. Will be interested to see what he does next year.

Henry, after an impressive .982 at High Desert in 2014, was a complete disaster at Jackson in 91 games. While I'd expect some bounce next year, the data suggests he might have reached his ceiling. Barring a spectacular 2016, he's unlikely to ever see the Majors.

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All in all, not bad. I picked these guys in the low minors, and 3 of 4 are continuing to progress. I figure having the top 2 guys in total bases is nothing to complain about for minor league prospects.

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The purpose of government is to set the minimum standard of behavior for a society, backed up with the power and authority to police and punish those who fail to meet those minimum standards. The purpose of Religion is to encourage people to exceed those standards voluntarily.